2. NEWS

The only really significant change to the Eligibility Policy adopted by the Board is that there are new metrics and thresholds used to determine TB disease burden. Income levels and disease burden are still the main determinants of whether a country and its components are eligible for funding. The Global Fund will continue to use gross national income per capita as the indicator of economic capacity.

3. NEWS

The Board has acknowledged that there might be a circumstance where the Global Fund will want to provide support to a non-eligible country experiencing a health crisis (e.g. Venezuela). The Board tasked the Secretariat with preparing proposals for countries in this situation and said that the proposals will have to describe how the support would be funded. The Board is concerned about the potential impact on programs in eligible countries if the Fund supports non-eligible countries in crisis. The Secretariat appears frustrated with how this issue has been handled up to now.

4. NEWS

The Global Fund Board has adopted a new CCM Policy, replacing the CCM Guidelines and Requirements for Country Coordinating Mechanisms. The Board also adopted a new Code of Ethical Conduct for CCM Members and approved $1.2 million over three years to fund implementation and enforcement of the code. Finally, the Board decided to add “CCMs” to the Fund’s list of strategic initiatives.

5. NEWS

The intermediate level of ambition with a phased-in approach, which the Board has approved for the CCM Evolution initiative, will allow targeted technical and financial support to be provided to country coordinating mechanisms in 16 countries to implement activities aimed at increasing their maturity in oversight, key population engagement, linkages and CCM functioning. The Board approved $3.85 million to fund the initiative in 2018–2019.

6. NEWS

The Global Fund is sticking with its decision not to proceed with grants to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, also known as North Korea. The Fund’s Board discussed the decision in executive session at its Board meeting on 9–10 May. The Board said that there will be a responsible phasing out of the current grants.

7. NEWS

In approving the Risk Appetite Framework, the Global Fund Board has set risk appetite levels for nine key organizational risks, as well as target levels for these risks and indicative timeframes for achieving the targets. In the process, the Board decided that the risk appetite levels should be set at the current risk levels.

8. NEWS

The new process for the selection of the Board chair and vice-chair calls for the use of a nominations committee to coordinate the process and for an executive search firm to provide support.The practice of rotating the positions of chair and vice-chair is maintained.

9. NEWS

The Board has announced appointments to its three standing committees for two-year terms that started on 11 May 2018. The Ethics and Governance Committee has been directed to undertake a review of the process for selecting the leadership and members of the committees.

Appointments to Global Fund Board committees announced

9. NEWS

12 May 2018

Author:

David Garmaise

EGC to undertake a review of selection processes for committee leadership and members

The Board has announced the appointment of 33 members on its three standing committees for two-year terms that started on 11 May 2018. The announcement was made at the in-person Board meeting on 9–10 May. The terms of the current members of the committees expired at the Board meeting.

The Board also tasked the Ethics and Governance Committee (EGC) with reviewing the process for selecting the leadership and members of the committees.

See Tables 1–3 for lists of the new members of the Strategy Committee (SC), Audit and Finance Committee (AFC) and the EGC.

Table 1: Appointments to the Strategy Committee

Name

Constituency

Timothy Poletti

Canada, Switzerland and Australia

Jean-François Pactet

France

Heiko Warnken

Germany

Sarah Boulton

United Kingdom

Mamadi Yilla

United States

Mike Podmore

Developed Country NGOs

Nduku Kilonzo

Eastern and Southern Africa

Violeta Teutu

Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Abdoulaye Ciré Anne

West and Central Africa

Ingrid Glastonbury

Western Pacific Region

Lucica Ditiu *

Partners (Stop TB)

Mubashar Sheikh *

World Health Organization

* Non-voting. (All other members are voting.)

The call for nominations was launched on 29 January of this year. The long lead time was necessary to allow for a thorough nominations and review processes. Constituencies were invited to submit a prioritized list of the names of individuals they wish to nominate and to identify the specific committees they preferred their nominees to be appointed to. Constituencies were encouraged to run a consultative and competency-based nominations process. Board leadership reviewed all nominations, factoring in advice from the ECG, the Coordinating Group and the incoming committee leadership.

Table 2: Appointments to the Audit and Finance Committee

Name

Constituency

Pasqualino Procacci

European Commission, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Spain

Greg Ferrante

Private Foundations

Michael Ruffner

United States

Chris Taylor

United Kingdom

Gilles Angles

France

Maurine Murenga

Communities

Allan Maleche

Developing Country NGOs

Naveed Kamran Baloch

Eastern Mediterranean Region

Guillermo Birmingham

Latin America and the Caribbean

Sukhbir Singh

South East Asia

Iris Semini *

UNAIDS

Alexandru Cebotari *

World Bank

Jean-Michel Ferat *

Ind. member with forensic investigation expertise

Peter Maertens *

Independent member with financial audit expertise

* Non-voting. (All other members are voting.)

A total of 60 nominations were received (for “first choice” committees) including 36 from implementer constituencies and 19 from donor constituencies. According to the Board and Committee Operating Procedures, each constituency was entitled to at least one committee seat and could receive a maximum of two.

The Ethics Office conducted due diligence in two phases –– first, when the nominations were made and, second, when the final list of proposed candidates was drawn up.

The three independent members who were appointed also served on the current committees. Board leadership decided that renewal of the independent members’ terms allowed for continuity and was preferable given the transaction costs of a selection process and onboarding.

Table 3: Appointments to the Ethics and Governance Committee

Name

Constituency

Suomi Sakai

Japan

Anders Nordström

Point Seven

Renuka Gadde

Private Sector

David Kihumuro Apuuli

Eastern and Southern Africa

Anna Filipovska

Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Mohamed Chakroun

Eastern Mediterranean Region

Joan Elise Dubinsky *

Independent member with ethics expertise

* Non-voting. (All other members are voting.)

Earlier this year, the Board had appointed the leadership of the three committees. Kieran Daly and Abdalla Osman, respectively, were appointed chair and vice-chair of the SC. Beatrijs Stikkers-Muller and Anthony Garnett, respectively, were appointed chair and vice-chair of the AFC. And Sandra Thurman and Grace Rwakarema, respectively, were appointed chair and vice-chair of the EGC.

Review of the selection process

The Board directed the EGC to undertake a review of the existing processes for selection of committee leadership and members; and to prepare a recommendation to the Board in time for the Board’s next in-person meeting in November 2018.

The Board asked the EGC to “put forward principles and concrete actions to underpin and guide the selection processes, including transparency, rotation of constituency representation, relevant experience, institutional memory, and gender equality”; to develops standards and processes for due diligence undertaken as part of the selection processes; and to review the size and composition of the EGC.

The Board asked that, in conducting its review, the EGC seek feedback broadly from across Board constituencies, including through inviting a representative of civil society to be a participant in EGC deliberations on this review.

Information for this article was taken from the decision points of the Board meeting on 9–10 May; and Board Document GF-B38-ER14 (Appointment of the Members of Standing Committees). The decision points are available now at www.theglobalfund.org/en/board/meetings/35. Board Document GF-B38-ER14 is unlikely to be posted on the Global Fund website.